Disclaimer: Stargate, Stargate SG-1 and all of its characters, titles, names, and back-story are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Productions, SciFi Channel, and Showtime/Viacom. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be printed anywhere without the sole permission of the author. Realize this is for entertainment purposes only; no financial gain or profit has been gained from this fiction. This story is not meant to be an infringement on the rights of the above-mentioned establishments

Jack exhaled, slowing his body to a stop. He glanced down at his watch. Not bad, he thought. He'd shaved off another few seconds from his best time.

Though, his mood quickly soured when he noticed Teal'c standing in the middle of the track, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes shining with mild amusement. Calm, cool, collected – and more importantly not touched with one iota of sweat or grime – Teal'c had obviously been standing there for longer than a few seconds.

"No one likes a show-off," Jack muttered, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand as he approached Teal'c.

Teal'c continued to smile. "Are you not impressed with my stamina, O'Neill?"

"Oh, I'm impressed," Jack said. He waved his hand, urging Teal'c to throw him the towel he had draped over his broad shoulder. "But then there is the thing about the bragging."

Teal'c chuckled, or at least came as close to a Jaffa ever seemed to come to it. He held out the towel. Just as Jack was about to grab it, Teal'c took a step forward, sweeping the towel over his forward and down his cheek.

Jack frowned, surprised when his normal instinctive drive to pull back didn't come into play. Instead, he found himself still, allowing Teal'c to gently wipe the sweat from his face. When he was finished, Jack just stared at him.

Teal'c didn't say a word.

"Is this some Jaffa ritual thing?" Jack finally asked.

"No."

Jack stared at him some more.

"Is this a problem, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, tilting his head as he raised an eyebrow.

Jack thought about it for a moment. And thought. And thought until he started to see Teal'c's smile dip.

He'd always been a decisive man. But it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy making Teal'c sweat.

Finally, he broke from his reverie and a sly smile crept across his lips. He saw it reflected in Teal'c's face as well.